The North-Carolina standard. [volume], September 08, 1847, Image 1

About The North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1834-1850

Image provided by: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Chapel Hill, NC

                
' mm inn? .. iO?iiirrcrrfe
; 2JtK '. - - rr-''
. vg: . - yp .
I v I fi f f i - i i - .-..i.i VI) til .11 ill i f, ii i. ti i fi xi i. if ii.i iii ill ri -j I i- it 1 , i i ill i .iji. .... . 7-
if Hi 11 A'ffl W. il M - - - ... ...... , , '
EDITOR JjD PROJPJRIETORl : ; V'.; " ' ' ' - --
1 " ' IM'"ir-nrT7LJ ' ' '' i ' ' 'r-n - - ' - f ' '. -. ? ' " '
TERMS.
jjE NOICTH CAROLINA STANDARD
. THREE DOLLARS K ANNUMf f'
Fire
M persona .Y.'rrece'lnt for Six DolUr,
rr two ern, ot tocpe one J tr.
rr-rcoM :.: ; i : 26 65
'twenty- ' : : - : 35 00
fte same rate for ix montbs. . , . .
lny person procuring nd forwarding fiveiubscu
wilh the cash ($15,) will be entitled to the Stand
el on yezrfree of charge. . ' , -
..fCRTisKMENTS not exceeding fourteen lines, will
L inserted one time for. One Dollar, and twenty-fire
cents for each subsequent insertion those of great
er length, in proportion. Court Orders and Jitdici-
j Advertisements 'will be charged ' twenty-fire per
,at higher than, the above rates. A deduction of
rt l-S per cent, will be made to those who advertise by
,ke year, ii ue numoer oi inseruons oe noi marie
oo tUem, they will be continued until ordered oat.
Lett1 to a Editor must come free if postage, or they
not be attended to . . . ; J;-'
I m-m mmmmm mmm
. ADDRESS ;
Of the Hon. JOflJV K MJI S OJV, delivered before the j
Jlumni .intonation of the University of North
Carolina, Jiaxe 2,. 1847.-..
Mr. President and gentlemen of the association.'
In annearinff before you tri-dar, while I regret
lhat your invitation had not found one possessed of
more leisure than I have had in which to meet its
jfquirements, I am glad of the opportunity which
Hs thus been afforded me, to testify my continued
interest in my Alma Mater, and my sincere re
gard for ihose great purposes of science and of
rrlue which it is the fortunate office of an Ameri
can LTniversitv to promote.
After intervals of absences-some of them em
bracing more than a quarter of a. century we
it agiin, mindful yet of our literary brotherhood,
rje cneruunj scrnrs ui our. j'uuiuiut iuum, uuu
ffocw for a few brief hours, amid the fragrant
simnorials of Chapel Hill, our ancient compan
ionship of letters, and our old associations of classic
life. Turning -uside from our; accustomed ptir
juiis, we exchange the greetings of friendship in
balls long.sacn-d to religion and to truth; and
before the altars of bur early worship, 'we g-uher
fresh motives of gratitude fa jhe venerable Institu
tion whose virtues they commemorate. We sur
render ourselves to the mild influences of the day
and the occasion. We forget the discords of pro
fessional strife; the hard competitions of business;
the feverish thirst for fame: and hushing all the
thousand voices of party zeal, we bow ourselves in
unresisting Submission to the divinity of the place.
la such influences we find our be3t preparation
(bribe Anniversary which we celebrate., h is a
festival Ie9s of .the head than of the heart, Il has
more concern with generous impulses and warm
iffeciions, than with the cold deductions of reason,
or the dry speculations of metayrrysics. Il is
iriseiv intended, not so'much for the exhibition of
hoarded knowledge and the discussion of abstruse
thought, as for the promotion of kind feeling, the
crrnglhening of good resolves, the awakening and
thickening of a spirit of improvement m ourselves
tad in others. It brings together, from remote
ces and from various paths, those whose only
ffmoris in common cluster around this sent of
jtorning; and it thus perpetuates attachments
u-hich might otherwise lie buried for ever in the
ijit of vears. In this view of its character, it
.h rvvardi of natriotism. no tss than the
regards of friendship; and strengthens our union
is citizens by reviving our connection as students.
m
The bonds which hold together our extended con-:
Icderacy of States, are not those alone wnicn are ; us morals and its mind.
to be read in written constiiuiions and gathered I It has been said that, under a Government like
Irom the enactments of legal codes; but those, ! ours, whatever is gained in politics is lost in learn
Miher. which are found in the interchange of so-' inc. and that a nation becomes less truly intelli-
as I kihJness; in ine auraciions oi unrary
..... . .1 I r.
of literary inter-
course: anu ia mc manuoiu asffociaiums wmeu.
. r i i : . : u . . r
V .. : i . u '
sprui" iro n me communions oi religion au me ; go
pursuits of business. Every institution, then fore,
which,
like our own Society, gathers its members
stfrequ nt periods from disuint sections mid differ-! with its advancing population, and gone hand in 1 . enlightened puouc opinion consiuuies, mnd . olher ngPS an(1 in other countries, nl
1 f . , . , .. . r m .,. -iTti. .l- nfir nl us hst restraint, and the on v one which .t L r.
eat Slates. lorms a new HQK in mat mosi unporiam
ciiain of causes, upon which we must chiVflv rely,
' i j '
. ' . . u a.. .1..
ivW Providence, for the support and perpetuity
tfour renublican system
In behalf of that system, how numerous
,
and
-uvvpiful are the motives which appeal to us on ;
an anniversary like this. The tranquility of these ;
academic walks, the circumstances, all of them, 1
under which we assemble, speak to us ol a btn-fi-,
cent Government aad a prospered country. The :
txperience, too, of every one of us enforces the
nine lesson with the strength and vividness of
personal conviction.
a
In what other nation has honest ambition so J
wide a range, and merit so certain and so brilliant : vided with the most costly apparatus and most
a reward? Where else, in the civilized world, j valuable works. The true glory, however, of re
can a virtuous education be so surely obtained, i publican culture is found in those less ambitious
and lea to results of such transcendant worth"?- nurseries of learning which, scattered broadcast
A distinguished illustration of this truth we over the Union, extend the opportunities of free
have present ia our own companionship, to-day. j instruction to almost every family in America.
The youth whom some of us remember as a stu-. From lhe imperfect returns of many of the States,
uent ol Uhapel Hill in me ciaen ui ioio, wuuac ana me ainereni syiieuis duvilrvu iu rauuui ctrv;
leeble health had threatened to quench his ardent liions for accomplishing the same end, an accurate
thirst of knowledge, returns to us now, the occu-j summary on this subject cannot well be obtained,
pint of the highest political station which is j Five years ago it was estimated that, in the whole
known on earth. We recognizo here no distinc- j country, there were not less than two millions of
tons of artificial rank; no claims of lineage; no; pupils, who, attended common schools; but a bet-
isumntions of wealth;
but wo acknowledge lhat
ih(. honors conferred unon our brolher-in-Ietters
-t .. :
arc reflected back upon our University and our
selves, and we recognize them as the fruit of wise
instruction, and as incentives to efforts in others, to
whom opportunities are offered, more favorable,
even, than. ;werc his. We greet him on this
auspicious occasion, not alone as the Chief Magis
trate of the Republic, but in a more near and
friendly relation, as our ancient associate in study,
and a rrraduate.' with: uay af the same honored in
stitution. Here, -where in the bright morning of
... .... : ... j r
ltte he laid, in virtue, in industry, anu in science,
of his subseauent success, he
cotnes back with us, lo pay the sincere homage of
gratitude for those early privileges. yj wucu uc
owes so much, and which he can now, more than
ever, value as thev deserve. In- his recollection;
w in the memory of us all,, this ancient place yet
glows with its old attractionSj and our .affections
fondle turn tn it. amid the wanderings of earth,
with cnmoihinrr nf vnuthful ardoi. as well as of
filial respccL However io other scents and less
tranquil pursuits," . ( . r.
tne ear is an unstrung.
a Still, still it loves the lowland toogue
6ut time, which matures and ripens, also den
Kroys; and as our eyes wander over this assembly
e mourn the absence of many a familiar coun
tenance and many a bejoved form. . While we ac
knowledge hew arid welcpme' accessions to'our
rumbcr from the youthful -graduates .of ihoyear
: ;
we are compelled to remember that they occupy
the seals of earlier companions, who have been
swept away in the lapse of years, and who repose
now m me stientsnaaowsot the, grave. To those
of 09 who were together here thirty years ago,
? rari nantes inigurgile vaslo," these mournful
recollections come home, with peculiar, power.
Like dim voices of the dead, they speak to us from
the chair of the instructor as well as from the
bench of the pupil; f
"Now kindied merit fills the sable bier
. Now lacerated friendship claims a tear ;
Year chases year; decay pursues decay ;
Still drops some joy from withering life away.'
'And here I should do' injustice to the occasion
and to my own feelings if I did not pursue this
painful theme for a moment, to pay the tribute of
my affectionate regard to the memory of him who
for so many years, often under most adverse cir
cumstances, but still with signal success, admin
istered the affairs of the University ns its presiding
officer. N one, I am sure, who has ever shi red
his counsels or profiled by his mild reproofs, can
easily forget the wisdom and the virtues of Presi
dent Caldwell. Uniting extended learning wilh
sound judgment, he possessed the rare and difficult
art to temper admonition with kindness, and to
render discipline more effectual by making it less
repulsive.
" His life was grntle ; and the lemeots
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up,
And say to all the woild, this was a man.' V
His character and his usefulness what he was,
and what he was enabled to do suggest a themo,
which in this theatre of his labors, and among
these witnesses of his fame, it would be a grateful
task under other circumstances to pursue. . But
his own example would rebuke us,', if we should
allow even his merits to turn us aside from con
lomnlalino' the oreat ohWts of his tnil T ,r n
1 o o - J -- w 1
l-.-.t I . 1. I !
secK laiuer to unaersianu anu to ao nomaire to
those vast interests of enlightened culture in our
own country, which ho livid, and: Thad almost '
L 3- . -" i
said, he died to promote.
To this general subject we are invited, not only
by the proprieties of the occasion, but by its own ;
intrinsic dignity and worth. . In its broad and
comprehensive sense, the, work of education is the
giand business of human life; and in these Uni
ted Tlates, I need hardly say, it can neveY bo
neglected, but at the hazard of consequences which ;
. i .
no patriot can contemplate without alarm.
This belief was present with Amerirn at it rprv
birth, and slam Ded unon its risin" institutions the 1
great impress of freedom and perpetuity. Inihe 'them among all classes of the reading community,
history of other nations, learnino- hn Wn ihfl! But the most striking displays of. its activity and
slow growth of a society already formed and has
existed, at last, only as the ornament of wealth or
the champion of power. But with the Fathers of
our Republic, the next to religion, it was the first
thing thought of; not as a luxury, but as a neces
sity; not as the handmaid of privilege, but as the
nurse of equality; not as thj& child of endowment
or the accident of place, but as the surest basis
of public prosperity and of private happiness. I journals. Sharing,4 as well as stimulating, the: forehead of the world. The experience of modern ( the globe. A single one of its Western Slates
They planted knowledge, therefore, in the wilder-! progressive spirit of the age, it advances into the times is confirmed upon this subject by all the ; possesses more steamboats than the w hole king-nrss-
established schools 'as soon a's they builded j wilderness with our hardy pioneers ; ' keeps com- ; lessions of antiquity. The home of freedom was dom of France, and there are said to be as many
habiutions and laid the foundation of a Univet-i
ity while vet they were struggling wilh the
aieVof disVase and the aDnrehension of wanL
MoL than a cenmr
were cel
riiu."n1l t it,;. rv.i.,M nrik.;.
character has been traced the secret of their great
iirrs ' Rverv child horn into the world was
lifted from the earth by the genius of its country, I
and in the statutes of the land received, at its
. . :
political birthright, a pledge of tho public care for
. i ...i ii..t- tl?
m-nt by becomino; more thoroughly Republican
t no country has done so much for learning in j
x v
Y
short a limr as America. Unexampled as has
been its growth in all ihe elements of physical ,
power,
US
means of education
an nave muiupnca
nand wun US increasing wcaiui. ven mis in- i
stitution was founded in 1789 it had not more than i
. ii . - .t. ...l.i. it.: . i'
. f i j , wnn -. vj . .i
ten associate collejres in the whole Union: and
111 X1 y Ul till. J. m J a " S Mua.f v -w
hardly on a level with our modern academies.
There are now in the United States at least ten
times that number, with an aggregate of nearly
eight hundred instructors, an attendance of twelve
thousand students, and a library of six hundred
and fifty thousand volumes. Independent of these,
but laboring in the same field of usefulness, are
thirtv-four schools of theoloirv. thirty-two of medi
cine, and eiht of law, all of them in successful
operation, and some of them municificently pro
i,.r idea of their extent and influence may be gath-
. . ...... t 1. rr.. 1 T
end from the slalisucs oi a cingieoiaie; m iiew
York, there are nearly eleven, thousand public
? . . . it .,
schools; not less than hall a million oi pupils;
and district libraries for the use alike of children
and adults, comprising in the aggregate more
ihn a million of volumes In that State, I am
aware, the school system has been the work of
many years ; but even the system of Ohio, one of
the youngest States in the. Union,, may well at
tract our astonishment and respect. Here, if any
where in the land, considering her late. existence
and marvellous growth, we might have looked to
see the cultivation : of mind fatally postponed, if
nnt tttrtAlIt." overwhelmed bv the; thronging de
mands of enterprise, and the pressing employments
of active life. Vet her constitution declares, in.
the genuine spirit of the Republic, "that knowl
ortrrJT is essential to (rood government and human
J happiness, and tnai ."scnoois anu naeaus ui m-
StrUCtlon SnOUlU De eiicuuiucu in u. jr
is consistent with freedom b conscience," Acting
on the admirable enumeni,oi mia provision, owe
had established, as long ago as 1840, .eighteen
colleges and nearly six thousand schools,, which
Were attended by twd hundred arid twenty-five
thousand scholars. - ' . 1 . ' .' '
. noA illustrations evince, at a tingle . glance,
lhe extended interest of our people, in .the diffjision.of
. . J". t ZG. vaci, lie nrK i-Ti that
knowledge, anu iuu inaguiunnv"- " v-" - -patriotic
interest has achieved. ' If some States
have done less than Ohio for the cause of instruc-
' t ' " - - i---..r--t ...::..;:.ft i,....,",?. H tin fist:?-- ;,v,:i;-, ,.!. ,$... b-4 TVii ? -.;.;..! irf j';b-tt 1iuk ;-n-.i"a.fj Juouu.n
, 1 "Mani T ttiiitii ii ii aM;jaBnMMMMiMMaiMMMwaiM)awwaaaMw - -n i rnw n ----- - - i ,f
" r V. '. , -tt "T" ' r- : ' . ' . i . .' 1 . ' . .. i. i." i j . i n i . hi i . - n i m i ' 11 "
THE COKSTITUTION AMD.'TIXE; VKtOS OV Tilvi
lion, there are- others which have done more-
and all of them, I believe without exception, have
recqgnised its importance by wise constitutional
o legal ; provisions: The public funds set apart
for this purpose in the whole 'Unionj including
the generous grants of land by the Federaf Gov
ernment, to promote the sales-of. its public do
main, need not shrink. from.com pa risoq. with the
boasted, literary endowment of Europe; and . yet
they fall very far shoitbf the; entire, expenditure
in the United States for the education of ihe young.
;Tho cost of private instruction forms of itself an
additional item of immense amount, while the
grand aggregate i still further ' increased by the
frequent contributions of individual beneficence,
for the foundation of libraries, or the improvement
of schools. ; Ia the field of letters," as every where
else in our country, the great principle of volunta
ry effort is ' ceaselessly at work, and constantly
rivals by the energy of its movements and the
magnitude of its effects, the most successful action
on the part of Government. , The exercise of their
combined power has pervaded the very -heart of
the people with the influences of moral and men
tat culture, and has extended the means of educa
tion to every grade of society and every condition
of life.
Aided, however, by jio combination with the
Slate, the religious teachings of America are the
work purely of private beneficence. In the re
publics of antiquity, religion was only a part of
their political' system, and the head of the State
was also the father of the church. This unnatu
ral connexion, fatal alike to Christianity arid tcf
liberty, which even yet lingers in the Old World,
has been wholly repudiated in the New and the
land of ; Roger Williams and Thomas Jefferson
proclaims liberty of conscience from sixty thou
sand churches, and inculcates virtue and toleration
in as many Sabbath schools. Free government is
valuable, afier all, not so much for any direct ex
ertion of its own power, ns for what' it permits the
pP l w"k out tor themselves.
TK TJ ..c-o lie, .n.U in I
I he Press began its work in 1639: a century
after wards it had earned the prohibition of Eng
land, and was strong enough to defy it ; and at
this day, it asserts its freedom by ao influence
which is only not despotic because it is not har
monious. Far outstripping by its enterprise the
fertility of her own writers, the American press
appropriates unshrinkingly the literary treasures of
the whole earth ; while it almost ioibids importa-
tion of books by the cheapness with which it re
prints them, and the facility with which it scatters
Powcr are on'y t0 be witnessed in the field of
journalism, wuere.n inuio man rtjuuia r imucb iu
enerirv. and knows no other rival throughout the
world. It printed the. first newspaper in America
in the year 1704; in 1823 it had joined an addi
. ..... f . .
tional number of eight hundred and fifty ; and, at
this day, it acts upon the popular mind through the
teeming columns of more than two thousand
PJ our commerce among ineswnas wine
rav-ia? a"d contends Tor supremacy witn tne swora
uPo every battle-field which is won by our victo-
Already it sends us shipping lists
f"m the Sandwich Islands, chronich s the news
oi tne day in Ln v era oruz, ana ecnocs oacK ine
thunder of our cannon trom tne snores oi tne lar
'acitic. uecoming tnus tne misaionaiy as wen
n lhe schoolmaster of republicanism, it plint
among other nations the seeds of freedom which
U :tlf finonaH f i i-kTin rtiir cm I "1111 liiivmor
first contributed to the glory of America at home, '
it crowns its labor of patriotism by making it bet-
i a ,tv. f' , v,r,r. A ,!rj
ter known, and there ore more honor d, abroali
w- l a , . m' I
With influences such as these it more than
pays back to our country whatevet of nurture it has .
received from it, and richly atones for all the im-
periecuonsor uuu uy
ine reproacues ui uaj,, a.,u ..-- -"-i
.-"i . r .
TT i'-.,-
vvmiiii ip:iv( in il an us vuiue. u lucr iiiia a uw
. , . , .i
f
" j i j .
,iUUiu uuHjjv.x, .v. .. - -j
i .nl4r,n, iniurmii' In r iic ewmrt rn mil hv irnln
dS r"M
les,
it has the viitue to heal the wounds which it
nas wmcn h
has
itself inflicted. In the higher
literature, the good which it confers is never -doubt.
ed; and if it is less free from censure m its lighter
ijuouc.iiiuua. y ,r, : : . V
even there is on tne
Sideot virtueana in lavoror iioeriy. " vverBH ie.t;
r. . - . ' i r . r : . .. wr. l..f.:
to me to decide," writes Mr. Jefferson, whether
we should have a government without newspa
nrs or newsnaners without ffovemmenLi would
not hesitate a moment to prefer the Jailer."
Para
doxical as this may seem, it cannot, be doubted
lhat no government can be maintained in the spi
rit of liberty and purity, without
the chastening
influences of the newspaper press.
It is sometimes said that a rich source of instruc
tion is closed to us, because America has no monu
ments; and if by this it is meant that she is not
h" the deeav of ace and the rava-
(r nf lime tho assertion is' strictly true,
B,
unless ruin is more desirable than greatness, and
the dim figures of antiquity, more precious than (
the fresh and glowing forms of youth, ihis feature
of her character is rather her glory than her re
proach. The monuments of America are not
found in the scattered. fragments of the dusty past,
but point all of them to the rising grandeurs of the
far-off future; and wbilq older nations Hook back
through the twilight of ages that lose themselves
in night," the genius of our Republic goes forth in
the dawn of morning, to rpeet and welcome the
approach of day.' likNp feudal castles, crumbliog
upon our hills, attest the ancient violence of robber
lordsi and hot for us; do the glorious relics of a
noble, ancestry bear witness; io buned columns
and .broken arches, to the degenerate spirits of
thei r unworthy sons ; but u place of , thes?, and
far better than these, ice crown 6oT landscapes
with contented homes, we build altars to science
by the hearthstone: of eveiv 'citizen, andt with the
spires of a, .thousand churches , we point our chil
d rerv the path . to H eaven . W hi le we can pre
serve, unimpaired to our country, free instruction
free religion.1 and a free press, we need ask no
other support for our institutions, and no other
witnesses to our; fame: ' ; '.. - v:
To the .means of, instruction-vyhicb have been
already nafntioh'e.d, I should do, wrong not to add
that other peculiar education which springs from
the very working of our republican system, arid
from which nofliembe- of the community can well
escapeveven ifj he would' -Under our policy,
every citizen is. a part; of the- Government, and
some of 'iu mott important dfdties are periodically
devolved upon him, both by law and by necessity.
STAttftTilST '
He .wields f he, power, of the elective' franchise,'
and determines by his " Vote the choice alike of
measures and of men; not only' who shall rule
him, bat ichdl shall rule him ; hd sits in the jury
box, arid the foriunej innd the fame, nay, the very
life of his neighbor, rests upon his decision; he
is called as a witness, and is sworn to give true
testitiony on questions involving the deepest in
terests and the most important results : or, by the
suffrages of his fellow citizens, he is clothed with
still greater trusts, and assumes responsibilities
which belong only to the highest stations in the
gift of the people. A sovereign in his own
righu the symbols of bis authority are thus con
stantly, before his own eyes,, and from every new
exercise of his power, the American citizen de
rives fresh excitement to his intellect, and increas
ed dignity to his character. In all his public acts
the double motive presses upon him to ensure re
ward and to avoid disgrace. Under a free gov
ernment, he knows full well that, with. intelligence
and fidelity, there are no plaudits which he may
notcfYJj nd no prizes of ambition which are
above his reaeh"; while,-, on . the other hand, no
where else is corruption so inexcusable, and igno
rance so wholly out of place. In other countries,
where passive obedience is the fruit of despotism,
a stolid people is the natural accompaniment of an
educated prince; but the genius of our, institutions
contemplates no such thing as an ignorant man,
and deems itself defrauded of its justxlaims when
it finds a citizen faithless to his duly. The large
requirements, therefore, of American politics,
which are with superficial observers the subject
of, hasty regret, ronstitute in reality one of the
most valuable features of our republican system, a
most affluent source of ennobling instruction, and
tend, with, inevitable certainty, not only to increase
the popular intelligence, but to give energy, ex
pansion, and elevation to the popular mind. Tran
quility and the repose of exclusive devotion to
personal pursuits are not the most favorable ele
ments either for great conceptions or distinguished
action. The highest heroism, on the contrary,
springs from the strongest excitements; and, the
period of revolution is also the period of awakened
genius. The same causes which break up ancient
abuses in society, break up, with equal efficacy,
old absurdities in science and in art; and from the
still-heaving waves of tumult and reform, emerge
j side by side, the warrior, the statesman, the orator,
and the poet. The sublime productions of Mil
ton bad their birth in trie same times wnicn pro-
'.duced the stormy character of Oliver Cromwell;
land the harsh, passionate voice of the one comes
softened to our ears bv the lofty melody of ihe
other; Amid the fierco passions and new found j
j energies oi ievoi,iuionary r rauce, miraoeau anu j
: Rnhenierre announced to ?r ether the risin? for-'
. 7 - . - ,. . . , "
tunes of the "man of dvsuny. Aud after con
vulsions, such as the' earth has rarely seen, Na-
nolcon comes upon the stage prepared for him,
! and writes his name iu iron characters, not only
! upon the history of Europe, but upon the very
every vvfierejne aweuing puco oi letiera, ana we i
read the examples oi successiui genius, noi among
the subjects of despotic Babylon, but among the
democracy of Athens. .There was no literary
fUme, evc in Qreece, until the era opened of her
, renuDiican principles: uui men sua occarae me ;
; matchless lana oi civiiizauon ana rennemeni.
Where science struck the thrones of earth and
; h
. Wh.ch shook but fell not; and the harmonious ruiad
Kniirrl ir.lf mrfh in all nronhetie gond
And music lifted up the listening spirit,
Until it walked exempt from mortal care,
Godlike, o'er the clear billows of sweet sound,
t , 1 . , c . . , . t
And human hands first mimicked, and then-mocked
With moulded Umb3t more Q, ey' lhao il8 OWB
Tllll illiman form ..n marble irrew divine"
i And lHe iiterlturc of Qreeee most prove forever
lhe kinalinff influences of
Grecian liberty.
But as no people can continue indefinitely in a
state or
rAUAliihtn I hncn AT-itsiltnn nl lha nnmu
i ways prouueing inesamc nooie iruus, nave, auer a
'it r j l .-h:
onei .na onuiani
reign, been as invariably fol-
0Wed by the paralizing torpor oi despotism. Ii
t - . i . w r.
-jwas reserved lor our happy country lo devise a
vsiem. our own incomparable federal system.
wbicb whh the Jibeializing influencies of the
PUeici!in i crr an f rnwlnm nl ir iMirllir le rrw-
?glam, instruclinff an(1 stimulating the-popular
j flnd devt.oping a!1 lhe energies'of our na-
ture. It w a problem successfully worked out
,. . - . c.m.(, lhe admiration lhe
world, equally auspicious to literature
and to
liberty; and promises blessings to mankind,
which the human imagination can hardly con
ceive. ' At this moment, the disastrous and omin
i ous condition of Europe, which men of philosophi
! cat enquiry and reflection begin to. ascribe to in-
vetorate, radical, and permanent evils of political
I and social systems, but renders mora vivid and
dazzling the bright aspect of our manifold pros
f perity."' But this is not the occasion to pursue
i this train of thought .
I uevoiea in patriotism, nnu every reauy to act
on the noute principle suus itepuuiica supretna
ex our countrymen have yet neglected nothing
which was calculated to adorn domestic life? and
promote individual happiness) Female education
ha., therefore, always been a subject of primary
attention.
Elevated to her appropriate position fn society';
refined and accomplished by careful instruction,
the American woman is the happy companion of
the American freeman; gladdening his heart by her
smile of confidence and. love, and cheering him in
his great career of-public duly, by her voice of
counsel and approbations
Glorious -as ! our institutions are, their fruit
would have turned to ashes, without the lovely as
sociation of the softer sex, fitted by education to
be the friend, the joy, the pride of American patriots.-':-
; ' 'V ' . - -: " ' "
. If ouncountry, from the very nature of its gov
ernment -demands much of its citizens, let us re
member that' it makes them capable of doing
much ; and that, by giving: to them the stimulus
and nurture of our free institutions, it places with
in the reachj even-of the most' humble, the high
est attainments of learning and the noblest achieve
ments of mind.
"The value of this nurture and of this stimulus
is best attested by the great results which they
have already accomplished ; and thus m.easured
by the standatctaf results, our,; whole Republic is
but a monument tcf their praise, Under their in
fluence, coristantly cherished' and .constantly ia'
turn exerted, it has not only 'maihtained' Success
fully its freedom and its power,' but it ha pursued ;
J J-- .. I L " I
a career of progress and Improvement, which
.;. Willi Oi-:;r
;.- f.j .ty:;t:.V"! 'ja.f
r 1 Jiru.-S'-J-.
. 'I i '
without .a pa mile! IrL thet history of, tha t world.
Fifty-eight years ago it elected its. first President
It then embraced a population bf little more than
three millions, occupying thirteen States, on the
Atlantic coast, and covering an area of less than
five haadred thousand square miles. , Its popula
tion is now. swelled to more than twenty: millions,
and it has. added nearly a million of square miles
to ; its represented) territory. - It has more ; than-j
uouDied trie number of States, and new sovereign
lies still .form themselves in the wilderness to
claim its confederate honors. ; With this astonish
ing increase of its numbers add of its peopled and
cultivated territory, has grown up, also in a ratio
equally rapid, every important interest which can
possibly add either to national wealth or national
glory. In agriculture, it has invented new im
plements of industry, and applied them to fresh
fields of toil ; and from the riet abundance of its
gathend harvests, it not only fills each avenue of
want 'at home, but freights its to re-ships wilh a
people's tribute to the famine-stricken children .of
kingdoms -abroad. - In commercej, ?it ; whitens' the
very . ocean with its enterprise, and exchanges pro
ducts wilh every clime under the sun ; while in
the rapid advancement of its manufactures it bids
fair, at no distant day, to rival even the skill of
English industry, and to transfer to this side of
the Atlantic the " workshop of the world."
Pursuring with boundless, because unfettered,
zeal each opening of foreign traffic, it at the same
lime unites its own territory by constantly extend
ing and improving its means of internal inter
course and trade. The remotest inhabitant of the
Confederacy is not beyond the reach of its post
office, and its civilization travels not only wilh the
marvellous power of wind and steam, but with the
speed of electricity, subdued by the art of man,
along the lines of its Magnetic Telegraph.
Scarcely moro than twenty years ago, it was with
out a single mile of railroad; in 1836, Us iron en
gines traversed acomplete track of sixteen hundred
miles, and it has now more miles of railroad than,
in the time of Washington, it had of post routes.
In proportion to its population, it has more than
three limes as many canals ns England, and more
than four times as many as France; and the canal
connecting the Hudson with the Lakes, is the long
est of ihese arifiicial rivers .? which has been con
structed in the world.
In the year 1807, Robert Fulton attracted ridicule
oy building its first steamboat, and ten years after,
it had no regular line of steamboats in all its wes
tern waters. They now crowd in hundreds upon
its ocean rivers and its inland seas, gathering the
rich products of the most remote and land-locked
regions of our country, and pouring tliem into the
p "i wiumcioc , iuey ueiy cveiy loriu oi uangcr
upon the Atlantic coast : thev keen comnanv wilh
r." " r f I r ' ..
us navy ngainsi tne noriners oi ne liuu ol luex-
anu, under the fostering care of Congress,
Ithey will soon cross the Ocean with its mails, and
; minister to the wants of our ships of war, and
'protect, our merchant marine in every quarter of
aieamera on uiue inue meaiierranean
i ii.. . t i i. . ,
a. . ...
Its increasing means of communication thus
keep pace with its extending settlements, and its
whole Union is bound together in the strong em-
"'" ..v.w.. uu. ..u..Ur,
and mutual interest. In this way it administers
with facility one Government for twenty-eight
sovereignties, and from a single central heart dif
fuses the healthy life-blood of law and justice
through all portions of the body politic. Yet,
wilh us, Paris is not France, and that heart would
soon become corrupt, and the stream of sanitary
circulation torpid, but for the purifying application
of the Federative principle, and the chastening
and correcting influences of the subdivisions of
power amongst the Slates and the people, to whom
so large a share in the duty of self-government is
wisely confided.
1 he same influences, loo, which have thus de
veloped, with almost startling rapidity, the vari
ous sources of its physical power, have adorned it
at the same time with cheering monuments of its
active benevolence, its scientific ingenuity' and its
improving taste. Its charities partake, at once, of
the vigor of its enterprise and the abundance of
its mean., arid no worth3' object ever yet appealed lo
it in yam. Shrewd and unyielding as it doubtless
is in the concerns of trade, it .is characterized by
ihe watmest sympathy for human suffering.' and
the most generous disposition lo give it adequate
relief. Its capacious heart, sharing something of
its broad nationality, has gathered around it none
of the iron of avarice or the numbness of exhaust
ed feeling, but never fails lo respond with warmth
and feeling to the voice of misfortune, no matter
from what climes it comes, or what disaster may
have produced it. In our own country it attests
the magnitude of its beneficence by its charitable
institutions, which attract respect,'- not only on ac
count of the purposes to which they arc devoted,
but from their elegant construction and conreni
eut arrangements.- Its care of its' poor has been
censured by foreign writers as so extravagant as
to invite pauperism ; and with equal bounty it em
braces in its ministrations the aged and the sick,
the deaf aud the dumb, the blind and the lunatic.
These institutions, so numerous aod so well adapt
ed to their ends excite our admiration, not so
much at their number, as that ino new a coun
try time hits been found to establish them, irm
in the maintenance of law, its system of punish-
ments is characterized by christian benevolence
and the pecuniary fines- imposed on numerous
classes of crimes are devoted to the promotion of
education beautifully taxing vice to support vir
tue. ; ' !; : - ; 1 ; v . 'J .-
If America has' not yet equalled older na
tions by her advances iri literature and art, she
has at least laid a firm foundation for them ; and
bright exampleS'of generous attauirnerit and lofty
intellect arc not even1 now anting among her
cultivated; citizens. ;' Her statesmanship has been
proved in 'the strictest school of diplomacy; and
her publie speaking, iri true eloquence,-.wilj nor
suffer froth comparison with that ) of any other;
country. In history, in ; painting, and 'in ; sculpf
lure, in poetry, in the eloquence of the pulpit, :n
the severe reasoning of the benchj and in theirri
posing diction of Senatorial elocution, our coun
try has produced successful competitors for a com
panionship with the most gifted sops of genius, in
other regions of the world: ; .
But, whatever may be thought of its literature
and its taste, its contributions lo Science and to me
chanics can never be regarded as deficient, either
in nurnber otjti value,1 Itsdiicoveries in electri-,
city; in -galvanism.' and inthe'applicatida of steam:
are as oriiuam in incory as tucy. arc useiui in re-
t ?i ir L i.' L. L -. - : r t "
rs'suUsj and thousands ot 7 models in oar Pateutoffice
!
..1. .i t ,-Jil f r-,:, v Ii,.., r.-.,r!ot
wbi , Jin i)i ml niiniTf.'tVn.-i ti-mrj nntmmmt-r . fori tiitt nggB'
bear witness thaY the -genius vhicfj intehtcd the
cottdn gin and new moulded the comtnefca of the .
world, is still fife 'among'' the'ewutttryrrrch of Kiji
Wfiirnpy.- In Mathematics, tn'm'inerafogyV in geo
logy, and in chetnistry, Hbe profond researched 6f
our countrymen have added to "the national srhafao
ter, and increased the means of'social'happinras
Tramnqelled by nd 'fetrers'of 'rnoranco dr d
perstiuon, the' American child of genius 41 comes
forth with freedom into. ?the glowing sunlight: of
philosophy, as the servant and interpreter of x&
tore:1 he looks abroad into" the frich and magoiaV
cent niversj calls the delightful scenery all' hit
owhi-tbe mountains,' the valleys, the ocean, the
rivers, and the sky; through ; these wide bound
he is free at will to cboose-ri y v.. .'i
' What'er bright spoils the florid eaf tit eotitatas;i .
Wbate'er the water or the ambieat'airJf jJt :?
1 ; All'prescni him with perfect instanec of ihiat
Consu ra m ate' wisdorrf : of the. A Im ig h ty God wb'O
created a world sb ' fattgfiit with beauty a3 by
thei r exam ination ho i gains mater mls,Kvhicik fio
only enlighten and adom, butxaltvaftd purifyiiis
mind; teachings fiim to appreciate the mirncul6a$
workings of an omnipotent arid rternal PowerJV!
But confederate America, after-all, is -not; yet'a
century old ; and it isltinjust, tberforc, to: measure
her attainments by the ripened knowledge which
with other nations has been theaccamulatiooi of
centuries. The-first condition of progress m ve
ry department of Jenrningv is to appreciate its val
u, and this condition, at least, she has genereersly
fulfilled. There is no objett of mental improve
ment al all worthy of human pursuit, upon whichj
in some form or other, she has not ' set' th seal . o
her approval; and . her elevation, it sfroftM be re
membered, is not '.shown by the bright achieve
ments of an isolated class,' but ; by tho liberal cul
ture or a whole peoples : ;5jc:: w It... , :..-...
Without any deductions for her deficiencies, she
has done enough -. a I ready to fix ' the gratitude of
her-citizens, nnd to . challenge'-the-admiration
the world. And yet, she is but in the rnottiing. o&
her existence; and brilliant .as now.i3, bet staric
has only entered upon the radiant career which Xt
is destined under Providence yet to accomplish. ;
Her population1, her wealth; her intellect,' and her
power, are all of them in the, germ only. of their
first devrloprment, and are pressing forward iq an
expansion whose majf-siic giandeur il is difficult,
for the mind to realize. Wlien :we. consider Jier:
sparstness: of 'population, her vacant leuilory iitr.
favored position, her nnrivalecj Governmentf andi
remember the momeniurrT which she has received;
from the past, and the increased energy which she .
must acquire from every succeeding step of her
onward march, we 'are ready; to belie? eL nothing;!
impossible inher future, greaioes jftA uv.u
It would bo vain to expect that the;wbrklrif
mere human hands, requiring-Jhe agency of . hu
man means should attain successful Jesuits,- wtiks
out sometimes exhibiting. :tba imperfectiona ittl
authorsand the infirmiites of vtheir nature, uili
,In the progress of our experitrtent. of mU-gdr-
ernment, we have encountered dangers whicbi ap
peared to threaten failure, and .which were. exulH:
ingly hailed by the enemies of freedooi asibesiire;
sign lhat our Federal Un ion tbe" prolific eourco
brail our blessings, would' prove wtt a; 'flops.
sand." Through thesB dangers we hare.euccessn
fully passed. . Others must await ufc '-r 1 r;:-.7
We know .: -.; .-' V- ;: ' 1
" There is a divinity which shapes our ends, '
Rough hew them as we may," L -" i
and we will not despair of the Republic a fways.
rtinembcring that, if in the collisions' of iftrterest, '
ihe wickeduees of fanaticism, or ' the -frenzy of
party, we recur to those -feelings i of fraternal af--fiction,
foibearance, and conciliation, and to lho$'
great prineiples of jatiee and r'eepect for tho rights-'
of all, which animated our" 7 fathers,-we wilt not '
fail lo secure the perpetuity of our institutions.' ''
The magnitude of our country's destiny taust
d pend, however tinder Povidenee upon tho vlr-
lue and intelligence of her indi vidual citizens : nnd
to all of us, therefore, she' addresses the solemn ;
appeal of patriotism and humanity.' While, thei'a
fore, we rndea'orto appreciate as-it deserves our J
glorious heritage of liberty ; and happiness, let us '
also appreciate the vast responsibility by which' it -is
accompanied I living; under the chly '-free'
government on earth; upon '.us are concentrated'
the dearest political hopes of 'man. ".Wherever
glitters the crown of despotism,'-or faintly thrpbs ;
the heart of freedom wherever toil goes tirtre
warded, or human light is crushed beneath opi':
pression from patriots of ull climes, arid the op
pressed of every landcome blended to our ears,
voices alike of warning nnd entreaty ; all invok
ing us to be faithful to our holy trust, and to pre-'
serve it sacredly for the civil redemption of-the!
world. The voices of the past como mingled
with the voice8of the present, and amid the graves 1
UI 1U11CM CIIipiICO, UUU IMS SJI.IIUIU IUIH9 Vi ' ucjfaii"
ed greatness, we gather anew the soli rnn lesson of'
individual dutyJ Lt us! receive it with feubmis1
sion, and reverence and awe ; 'and let iv increase
the warmth of our patriotism the earnestness 3f"
our virtue, nnd the devotcdness of our toil.' -If.wa
would discharge aright the duty which wa owe
to our country and to mankind,, let us begirt ty
discharging aright .the duty which we owe1 our-''
selves. .; t -.. j .' tf. U: s".u'-t: .. c.i i
"This above all, to thine own self bttrue
And it must follow, as the night the day,..-.
Thoa canst not then be f4l$eto aqy 9aa,V;
Capfain Jo'. During Doniphan's mrch fron.
EfPaeso to Chihuahua, the black servanlf .ofihe
diflerent officers of the regiment formed ihenriselVei ;
into a company. There were tiyelve of therhof,
which number eleven were, officers Tarjd onVhtgh;,
private Jo--, servant to Lieut,. D -j. was eTected'j
captain. He was the blackest of the crpwd. and..
sported a large Djacic .earner wiia a small black
hat also a large, sabre with, an intensely bright
hilt wliich sam sabre' was eternally gelling m-'
volved iti the" inlricalo windings of his bow legsv
With Jo. for captaih'ihey were a formid'able, byip,
and to hear thern talki they, would ' dp'wfo4erf'l "!
During tho. battle of! Sacramento)' ,hoH,eycrJ'iba''
company ," were not to,' b seen .but, after the jbaMP,
was, oyer, they wer.e pie b'r,ikin but Ioai the.
wagp'ns'and joinfrig in the'jjqfsuftT. That evepipg;
one of burbfficers attacked Jo about 'hia comp'any..
of de men ; I irijokcd'detm by.' all deyrh'oId,'m6st
ucuu in u io wunu an. ug ui.. oui ii .was no i
giuin' bouerand at, jas, de cDrioh'alls cyra j0
ormigbty fass t thought.' de best'tiog dis'riigga!
could do ivaf to git behind de wagons heself T "
, aven, jo, i ncara your, men were nij oeouiii
the wagons, during the j&g'ht ?" . T- i
" Lieutenant, I'se berry sorry, to.' say it rim de
truf! I ddoe 'evervihirie:. l! call'd on de oatensm
.'. r ' - I l' .
19.
dey would Sl on the wrong fcide'bfde wagooa?'
1 " And'what d$yotiA9$ity frl
" I stood darifeuin' cooler,' and the 'firioi'lccbt-